Snap contact.



R. W. MAGNA.

SNAP GONTAGT.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.16\1908.

Patented Jan. 17, 1911.

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SNi CONTACT.

caress.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. it, i iis Application filed December 16, 1908. Serial No. 467,807.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, RUSSELL W'. a citizen of the United States of IVIAGIIA,

den and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Snap Contact, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices employed in making electrical 'connections, and particularly to a certain peculiar clip or clamp oi the snap variety, as hereinafter set forth.

The object of my invention is to provide a reliable andeliicient though simple snapcontact with which electrical connections can be easily and quickly made and unmade, such device being especially adaptedior engagementwith and disengagement from the b1nding-posts of electric batteries, and when engaged with such a post to grip the same firmly and securely. I attain this object by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device; Fig. 2, an interior view of said device, one side being removed; Fig. 3, a front end view of the ing posts of a dry battery, the upper end portion only of such battery being shown in" elevation.

Similar figures'refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Althou h'this snap-contact is designed particular y for use with electric batteries which have" the ordinary screw-threaded binding-posts, it is not necessarily limitedto such use.

The device, when employed. with electric batteries, is espeeiallyapplicable to battery boxes and for-other purposes which make it desirable to connect batteries or to place them in circuit with despatch and ease, either when the connections are to be temporary or otherwise, and to this end I provide a clip or clamp, comprising pivot-ally-connected spring-pressed members, with longitude nally concave jaws which. are preferably screw-threaded or cut in some other manner so as to afford afirm, secure,- and complete engagementwith a screw-threaded bindingpost. The screw-threading, abrading, roughening, or other cuttin of the aforesaid jaws to insure an interloclling engagement with the screw-threaded binding-post is done, of

America,- residing at Holyoke, in the county of Hemp device, and, Fig. 4, a view showing. tllB*Cl(2V1CB connected with one of the bindfor automobiles, for testing batteries,

course, in the inside. The snap-contact can be d sconnected from a binding-post as readily as it can be connected therewith.

Referring to the drawings it will be oblugs, the terminals of said spring project x 111g backwardly and outwardly to hear:

against the inner surfaces of said members 1.

01' of their ears in such a manner asto thrust the latter apart and so throwsaid jaws into their normal gripping or closed position. In

addition to these parts there is a socketor sleeve 7 which depends or projects from the face of one of the outer ears 5 to receive one end of an electrical conductor or wire 8, such conductor usually being insulated. Thefifonductor or wire 8, to which the snap- -contact is attached, in the present instance lay-having one end secured within the sleeve "is one of the circuit-forming members with which my invention vis used and constitutes a flexible connection Wherebv the rapid. manipulation of said invention is facihtated. There may be another snap-corn tact on the bther end of the wire 8, or such end may have afixed or permanent attachment, according to the use to he made oi the same.

Each jaw Q is concave or approximately semi-tubular in the direction of its length, or, in other words, the axis of the concavity is at right-angles to the axis of the members 1, viz., the pin 3, and the interior of said jaw is, (heated at 9, in Fig. 2. much shorter than shown in the drawings, ands mere abrading or roughening of the in this case, screw-threaded, as in anterior surfaces, wholly or in part, of the same may be resorted to in place of the screw-threads 9, or a single thread or its equivalent may be substituted, so long as provision is made for a good engagement between the jaws and a binding-post, as hereinbei'ore intimated. Moreover, the jaws may be made smooth on the interior, out'not without impairing to a considerable extent the eiiiciency of the device.

The'jaws l might be lid In the last view, a part of a dry battery is represented at 10, with its carbon-electrode at 11, and its positive and negative binding. posts at 12 and 13, respectively. One of my snap-contacts is shown in position on the binding-post 12, in this view, but it will be seen that it might just as well be placed on the binding-post 13. To engage or disen gage the device with or from either of the binding-posts, it is simply necessary to. press together the ears 5, against the resiliency of the spring (5, to separate or open the jaws i, slip said aws on to the binding-post, and then release said ears to. permit the jaws to close on and grip said binding-post under the influence of said spring, on the one hand, or to press together the ears sufliciently to separate the jaws from the bindingepost, and then withdraw them therefrom and release the ears, on the other hand. The screwthreads 9 interlock with the binding-post screw-threads, when the device is snapped into place on the post, and so prevent accidental disconnection of the parts, while at the same time affording a perfect electrical contact. The construction of the device is such that said device will fit binding posts of different sizes or diameters, provided the diiierencc be not too great. The conductor 8 should be of sufiicient length to enable the snap-contact to be handled freely.

While I have illustrated only one application of the invention, it is manifest that it is applicable under many different circumstances and conditions.

Although I have shown and described a preferred form of my invention, 1 do not desire to be'restricted to the same in matters of shape, size, and minor details of construction, nevertheless, I am aware that springpresscd elasps of various kinds for various purposes are old, hence do not seek to claim such a-device broadly, but

W hat I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, in a snap-contact, eta pin, mutuallyoseillatory members provided with two pairs of inwardly-extending lugs mounted on such pin, one pair of such lugs being inside of and contiguous to the other pair, semi-tubular jaws at the forward ends and cars at the rear ends of such members,

such jaws being interiorly cut to engage the screw-threads of a bindingpost, a spring encircling said pin and bearing on said members behind the pin to force said jaws tounrdcach other, and a .sleeve, adapted to have an electrical conductor attached therc to, projecting from one of the outer lugs, the arrangement of parts being such that the axis of the semi-tubular jaws is at rightangles to the pin.

RUSSELL N. MAGNA. YVitnesses F. A. CUTTER, A. C. FAIRBANKS. 

